CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. — As the year draws to a close, supporters of The Capitol Theatre are trying to raise an additional $20,000.

As of Dec. 16, the 2011 Be a Star! Campaign has raised $72,332. But organizers of the 501(c)3 organization hope to reach their goal by Saturday.

“We are getting closer,” Ann Wagner, chairwoman of the Capitol Theatre Center Foundation, said Tuesday. “Even if it trickles in to the New Year, we’ll still be working on it.”

Failure to meet the annual fundraising goal would cause the theater board to re-evaluate its budget and make some cuts, she said.

But Wagner said it won’t affect the theater’s programming, and the doors of the South Main Street theater will remain open.

It takes about $450,000 a year to operate the historic, downtown theater, which opened in 1927, she said.

“In this economy, all the nonprofits have been struggling to meet their fundraising goals, but we feel that it’s doable,” Wagner said. “The theater has been very blessed with a number of very generous donors over the years. It’s something that we feel can be accomplished. If we don’t quite meet our goal, then we’ll just adjust and work onward.”

She said the value of the arts in the community is immeasurable.

“It’s not only bringing people in from the outside. It’s giving a venue for local people to perform. We have CCT (Chambersburg Community Theater), we have the ballet and we have different local groups who use the theater.

“It’s important that we keep it open as a community resource and a venue for the arts,” Wagner said.

To make a tax-deductible donation to the 2011 Be A Star! Campaign, make checks payable to Capitol Theatre Center Foundation, 2011 Be A Star! Campaign, 159 S. Main St., Chambersburg, PA 17201. Gifts can also be made online at www.thecapitoltheatre.org.